Sketch comedy in London

The London comedy circuit is awash with man-and-a-mic stand-ups strutting their stuff at weekend clubs. So why not seek a different type of chuckle? The capital hosts plenty of excellent sketch comedy nights and many of the best troupes perform their solo hours from the Edinburgh Fringe throughout the year. To get you started, here are the next ten sketch comedy shows coming up in London.

NewsRevue is the world's longest running live comedy show, having started back in 1979. A topical sketch show featuring a vibrant mix of sketches and songs about the news, current events and celebrity culture, the show is updated every week with brand new material.

Canadian actor Kerry Shale and Radio 4 regular Chris Neill star in this recreation of Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner's classic comedy skit – it's the first time ever than Brooks and Reiner have given permission for the semi-improvised sketch to be revived. Shale plays the titular role, being interviewed by Neill about his two millennia on this earth.

This year, Red Nose Day is being broadcast live from the London Palladium, and you can be in the audience. These two sessions feature a huge group of British comedy greats.
The early show will feature appearances from Eddie Izzard, David Walliams, John Bishop, Lenny Henry and, er, David McCall. Sam Smith will be providing the music, plus there'll be VTs including a new Mr Bean skit, highlights from 'Phoenix Nights Live', a special 'Little Britain' sketch and a 'star-studded "Vicar of Dibley."'
At the late session, Claudia Winkleman hosts Russell Brand, Sarah Millican, Doc Brown, Trevor Noah and Cardinal Burns, plus there's sketches featuring Stephen Fry, Miranda Hart and Sheridan Smith. Labrinth provides the music.
Please note, age limits apply: no under-16s for the early show and no under-18s for the late show. And the late show won't finish till 1am, so make sure you can get home.

At this semi-regular gig there's a mix of sketch, musical comics, character acts and straight stand-up, and the line-ups are generally pretty good. For details of who's on when, check the 'dates and times' tab.